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The Lakers finished the 2013-14 season in 14th place in the Western Conference, with a 27-55 record -- a franchise worst since moving to Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant played in just six games with knee and Achilles injuries. He's healthy heading into the 2014-15 season, which kicks off Tuesday at Staples Center against the Houston Rockets. Pau Gasol has departed for the Chicago Bulls. Steve Nash (back) is out for the season. Nick Young is expected to miss 15 to 20 games with a thumb injury. Can the Lakers climb to the top eight in the west, to earn a spot in the playoffs? 1 -- San Antonio Spurs (56-61 wins): The Spurs are the defending champions. While...

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The Lakers finished the 2013-14 season in 14th place in the Western Conference, with a 27-55 record -- a franchise worst since moving to Los Angeles.
Kobe Bryant played in just six games with knee and Achilles injuries. He's healthy heading into...

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook is expected to be out at least four week after having surgery Saturday to repair a broken bone in his right hand.
Westbrook suffered the injury when he hit teammate Kendrick Perkins' elbow with while going...

The New York Knicks have serious interest in hiring former Laker Derek Fisher as head coach.
Knicks president Phil Jackson hasn't been shy about talking about the Fisher possibility, resulting in a $25,000 fine by the NBA for tampering.
A team...

Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have had an interesting history.Nike hoped its puppet commercials featuring both players two years ago would foretell an NBA Finals matchup between the Lakers and Cavaliers. Instead, Cleveland fell to Orlando in

This is the last thing the Lakers should be reading or discussing. They're in the midst of a five-game losing streak. They aren't even sure whether they'll finish as a No. 2 seed or drop down to No. 4. And they've demonstrated such a riddling amount of inconsi

Before he could see any of his teammates, Kobe Bryant immediately darted into the trainer's room. Bryant usually goes through this ritual at some point following a game, receiving extensive treatment and icing on his assorted injuries, most notably his surgica

They're a decade removed from it all, but assistant Lakers coach Brian Shaw and former Kings star Chris Webber still debate. They bring up the contentious history between the Lakers and the Sacramento Kings -- meeting in the first round of the 2000 playoffs, 2

Spike Lee has really been taking it on the chin this week. First off, his beloved New York Knicks have lost two straight games to the Boston Celtics, blowing big leads both times, seeing a lot of awful defense from ...

The numbers that mostly consume Kobe Bryant at this stage of his 15-year career are five and six, the former marking the number of NBA championships he currently has and the latter the number he wants after the 2011 playoffs. Bryant could acquire even more rin

1. How will the Lakers respond to pressure? As much as I believe the Lakers play roulette in making things more competitive than necessary, the team's 2-2 tie with New Orleans entering Game 5 Tuesday at Staples Center isn't anything out of the norm. Consider t

Writers from around Tribune Co. discuss whether the Spurs will still be playing in the Western Conference semifinals. Check back throughout the day for more responses, and feel free to weigh in with a comment of your own. Baxter Holmes, ...

1. Lakers' offense vs. Dallas' zone It's not usual for NBA teams to play zone defense, but the Mavericks have added a few extra wrinkles this season in hopes that it takes advantage in Dallas' length with two 7-footers in Tyson Chandler and Dirk Nowitzki and a

Exit interviews take place at the Lakers' practice facility in El Segundo on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we'll provide audio clips as quickly as possible and news/feature items from all the interviews with video later in the day. But we don't have to wait for th

With a glare, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant summed up his scathing critique of the team's poor Christmas Day effort against Miami this way: "I'm going to kick ... . in practice." The message was more than just a warning that he's going to hold his teammates accounta

The NBA issued Bulls forward Joakim Noah a $50,000 fine for uttering an anti-gay slur during Chicago's Game 3 loss to Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals a little more than a month after issuing a $100,000 fine to Lakers guard Kobe Bryant for the same offen

This is the third post in a series of posts focusing on the Lakers' coaching candidates to replace Phil Jackson. Candidate: Mike Brown Coaching background: Brown led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2007 NBA Finals and two Eastern Conference Finals appearances t

Below is the second post in a series focusing on the Lakers' coaching candidates to replace Phil Jackson. Candidate: Rick Adelman Coaching background: Adelman, 64, is eighth in all-time victories with a 945-616 record in 20 NBA seasons as a coach with Portland

In a move that will largely define the Lakers' future, the organization hired Coach Mike Brown and left Kobe Bryant out of the process. In a move the success of which will partly depend on the strength of that relationship, the two are already off on a bad foo

It's surely a weird feeling for Laker fans today, firing up their grills, hitting the beach and honoring the veterans that make our country safe. That's because for the first time in three years, the Lakers aren't still playing basketball and competing for an